Civil Service Job Isn’t a Civil Right

* As a laid-off former aerospace employee, I am confounded by the March 24 article in which the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station commander, Capt. Thomas R. Bernitt, worries that some of his employees might lose their jobs due to outsourcing.

He states that “it’s a very stressful time for someone who . . . dedicated their life to government service with the understanding that was a lifetime commitment on both sides. . . . “

Under today’s economic conditions, why should a civil service job have a lifetime guarantee?

As a taxpayer and a World War II Navy veteran, I would suggest a “captain’s mast” for the captain’s logic.

CLAYTON R. STURDEVANT

Costa Mesa